Tag Archives: grand openings

Luisa Taqueria opens with a fusion of Mexican and Filipino flavor

In the last year Beacon Hill has seen a few new places to eat and drink. One more has been a long time coming but it is open now. The storefront at 15th and Beacon that has borne the sign “Taqueria Frida opening soon” for a very long time (we first wrote about them in November 2010, along with a rumored sushi place that has yet to materialize) finally opened this week with a slight name change to Luisa Taqueria. It’s open daily except Mondays, from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.

Luisa’s operators, Inay’s owner Ernesto Rios and his nephew Gerald, describe their offerings this way:

“Luisa Taqueria, a fusion of Filipino and Mexican cuisine, similar yet surprisingly unique. From our carnitas and carne asada taco to the sisig and tangy pork adobo taco, we promise none will disappoint. The elegant simple flavors of combined cuisines give this Beacon Hill Taqueria a reason to stop by and dine. With summer right around the corner everyone should try out the Flaming Nachos Diablo and Carne Asada Fries accompanied by the house-made Horchata.”

It’s too early to review the taqueria properly, but I stopped by today and can report that the food I tried was tasty. I particularly liked the horchata, which tasted smoother and less watery than at some restaurants. The prices seemed reasonable. I’ll be back.

Luisa Taqueria is located just a couple of doors south of Inay's at the junction of Beacon and 15th. Photo by Wendi Dunlap.

Travelers Thali House to open August 5

This Beacon Avenue house, formerly Culinary Communion and Tasha's Bistro Café, will be serving up Indian food in a few days. Photo by Jason.
Travelers Thali House, the new Indian restaurant in the old Culinary Communion/Tasha’s space on Beacon Avenue, will celebrate their official Grand Opening starting on Friday, August 5 at 5 p.m., and running through the entire weekend.

According to their Facebook page, there will also be “soft openings” on Friday, July 29 and Saturday, July 30 from 5-9 p.m., and on Sunday, July 31 (during Beacon Rocks!), Wednesday, August 3, and Thursday, August 4 from noon-9 p.m.

New coffee shop The Station opens

The Station, a new coffee shop, opened yesterday at 2533 16th Avenue South, just across from El Centro de la Raza and just north of Beacon Hill Station. The opening was celebrated with barbecue and a live DJ. The shop is small but comfortable, and is currently displaying paintings by Vanessa K. Wilken on the walls. Along with coffee, tea, and chocolate, The Station will also be carrying pastries from A Touch of Sweden.

Neighbors enjoy the grand opening. Photo by Wendi.
The interior of The Station. Photo by Wendi.

A Touch of Sweden promises pastries on Saturday

Photo of Swedish bulle pastry by Dick Rochester.
A Touch of Sweden is coming to Beacon Hill this weekend, bringing Scandinavian cakes and pastries to the Beaconian masses, as well as new life to a building that has been closed to the public for the last year. This new baking business will be catering and selling baked goods to order, including Swedish pastries such as cinnamon rolls, chocolate/almond beskvis, farmers’ cookies, dream cookies, and princess cakes.

Kajsa Soderlund and PopTop Rising are hosting an opening event this Saturday, May 1, to introduce their selection of baked goods. Sampling tickets will be available and everything will be at a reduced, introductory price. There will be Mother’s Day cakes, raspberry mousse cake, and chocolate mousse cake, as well as free coffee. Soderlund says, “We will be taking orders for Mother’s Day cakes or other requests too.”

The event will take place on May 1 from 1:00 – 4:00 pm at the former Culinary Communion house, 2524 Beacon Avenue South.

“A Touch of Sweden” is renting kitchen space from the new tenant of the house, so it won’t be a full-time bakery just yet. However, Soderlund tells us that they plan to have open hours when people can stop by to place advance orders, though the hours aren’t yet finalized.

The kitchen will be busy; we hear that there may be a new restaurant opening in the Culinary Communion building soon. We’ll post more details about the restaurant as we get them.

In the meantime, Soderlund says “We are very happy to be able to bake at this beautiful kitchen and would love to see you there.”